If I Wake Before I Die
by Hitman81
Summary: What will happen if Itachi find he has a daughter? Will he let her live? What happens when her friend becomes an Akatsuki member? What does Madara have up his sleeve? What will happen when Gaara falls in love? Only to find he is not alone in his love for her in a totally unexected way. then all put into one crazy story...well i guess you will have to read to find out...
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

In an alternate universe, in Land of Fire, The Hidden Leaf Village

Itachi Uchiha stood over his old lover, Yume. His twin swords were dripping with the blood of his kinsman making dark red stains on the pure white carpet. The sound of the blood dripping filled the silent room ominously.

"Please… don't kill me Itachi" cried the woman who was on her knee's at Itachi's feet. The woman had black hair and brown eyes with soft and gentle features twisted into one of terror. Even so she was still stunningly beautiful. Her tears fell from her long lashes to mingle with the blood. Itachi stood over her, his tall frame casting her into his shadow as the full moon bathed the room in its light from the window at Itachi's back. Itachi's short midnight black hair shifted in the cold breeze. The wind howled outside sounding like hundreds of people were screaming. The scent of death hung heavy in the air and terror filled the night.

Yume's pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as Itachi's cold eyes stared down at the crying women on the floor. He remembered the last time he had seen her three years ago. He had ended the relationship between them and he hadn't seen her since.

He lifted her gently off the floor by the scruff of her neck and raised one of his blood soaked knifes to then swiftly cut her throat. Her eyes widened in panic as she stared at him before her eyes dulled and she slackened against him, her face immortally etched into one of petrify. He made sure that she did not suffer, that was the only solace he could give her. And himself.

No emotion showed on his face as he laid her lifeless body on the ground. His mind felt nothing but emptiness inside, however deep inside his soul he was screaming in agony and grief. His pain was too much for him to handle so much so his mind shielded most of it from him. He knew this and Itachi was grateful. But what he did feel…It was enough to drive him to his knees. Only his years of training as a soldier stopped him from doing just that. But he understood what must be done. Nothing would stop him from doing his duty.

He was about to walk out the door when a baby's shriek stopped him in his tracks. The sound pieced the night; it echoed all around him and joined the howling scream of the wind in a symphony of sound that could almost be described as beautiful. He turned and walked silently toward where the sound was coming from. He then heard another voice trying to shush the cry urgently. A woman if he had to guess.

Itachi walked into the room and as he suspected a woman with the long midnight black hair the Uchiha clan was famous for, was standing over a cradle where a baby was screaming. As soon as she sensed that there was someone else in the room, she spun around and had a knife in her hand so fast her movements would have been a blur to the human eye. This must be Yume's sister. He could tell because they looked so much alike.

He once again raised one of is swords, but unlike Yume she didn't beg for mercy or scream in fright. This impressed Itachi who had seen only moments before, grown men quiver in fear at the sight of him. She had black hair and had a soft complexion that was drawn into a stubborn glower.

He could see in her eyes that she knew she couldn't win against him and yet still she stood defiantly in front of him without even a hint of fear. She was either very brave or incredibly stupid. She just raised her knife, narrowed her eyes and stood protectively over the cradle. Her eyes glinted with protectiveness, her chin set with determination that he also admired.

"Your saskuke's older brothers aren't you? Itachi right?" said the woman with venom.

"Yes" he said simply from the doorway and walked slowly across the room. He couldn't see a reason not to tell her. He remembered Yume telling him about her sisters, she had two. One of them being her twin sister Trinity. She was a teacher at the academy and apparently one of Saskuke's teachers, his little brother. If he remembered correctly so was Trinity. This must be her oldest sister then.

"I will die before I let you harm her" she said in a determined voice.

"Yes, you will" Itachi said simply and continued to walk forward until he was about an arm's length away. He was close enough now to see inside the cradle. A little girl with black hair and dark brown eyes was looking up at him; she was wearing a pretty pink dress with ruffles. She was around two years old and she was standing with her little fingers clutching the cradle for balance. He could see a strong resemblance to Yume and that gave his pause.

"I did not know Yume had a child or is it yours?" Itachi said with an inward frown. Why did he care? They were going to die anyway whomever the child belonged to. But he had a nagging feeling in his gut that he knew better than to ignore.

Then woman stiffened noticeably and that caught his attention like nothing else. What was she trying to hide? Then a thought came to him made him stiffen. Could it be that this child is…? No, impossible. The timing was right though and he was never one to lie to himself. He also recognised a strong resemblance to himself.

"How old is she?" he asked wondering but not completely believing…..

The woman said nothing, refusing to answer him. He moved so fast his movements could not be seen. One moment he was an arm's length away, his hand at his sides, the next he held the woman off the floor by her neck. The woman gasped and dropped the knife to clutch at her throat in reflex.

"Answer me" he said outwardly seemingly perfectly calm but on the inside he was wound up so tight he could barely get the words out.

"Two years and a few months" said the woman in a strangled voice, Itachi's eyes widened in shock.

"Is she my mine?" he said trying not to sound as shaken as he felt. Again the woman refused to answer him. He tightened his grip on her throat.

"Biologically, yes." she said lungs burning; she knew that she was dying and didn't have long left; her vision was beginning to darken. In the end she had been no good at protecting her niece, she thought bitterly. Her self-hatred at not being stronger settled in her belly like a stone. Numbness flowed through her body like she was being held under water in a tub of rapidly cooling water, to the point where she could barely feel her body. She fought against the sensation in a hopeless battle that she knew that she would inevitably loose. She spat in his face and whispered with malice,

"At least I will die knowing that the Hidden Leafs ninja will hunt you down for what you have done to the Uchiha clan and you will be ripped to shreds so small there will be nothing left to bury." She then fell unconscious with those last venomous words echoing around the room. She wasn't dead yet. Itachi then gently lowered her to the ground to finish the job, he looked at the woman and smiled grimily at the irony.

"They will hunt me, but only to keep up appearances. You see little one, it was on the Hokaga's orders that I eliminated my clan" he whispered and for the first time that night he felt the enormous weight of his deeds. Tears trickled out of one eye to track down his face to drop onto the woman. He understood and even accepted that Uchiha clan had to be eliminated, but it still hurt.

The Uchiha clan had been secretly planning to take over the Hidden Leaf village. Many people would have been killed during the takeover and the village would have been sent into chaos. Leaving the Hidden Leaf village extremely vulnerable, giving their enemies the perfect opportunity to attack. That could not be allowed to happen.

He looked up when the baby started to cry again. He walked up to the cradle and she reached for him with the total innocence and trust of an infant. He looked at her for a moment then she stopped crying and stared straight back with a small goofy smile on her face. She lifted her arms above her head and he knew that she wanted him to pick her up.

I have a daughter. The thought was unimaginable. If anyone knew of her it would put her in unfathomable danger. He had many powerful enemies and especially with tonight events the number of enemies he now had now tripled. What should he do? What could he do?

He picked her up and held her for a moment; he didn't know exactly why he did so. It just felt like the right thing do. But as soon as he held her, for the first time in his life he felt...warm, inside his heart where before there had only been coldness. She hugged him back as if he were the most precious thing in her world, the only thing in her world. She did not even know him and yet…In his darkest hour this child had given him something that no one had ever given him, comfort. When he looked at her, he saw hope for the first time that maybe everything really will be okay. It was an irrational thought but he didn't care.

In that moment he knew he couldn't kill her. No matter how much his brain screamed at him to kill the baby and to be done with it, he couldn't do it. The baby laughed and smiled at him then started to bounce up and down in his arms. Itachi's heart melted. He also felt an almost overpowering urge to protect her from the outside world. He wanted to keep her safe and innocent just like she was in his arms.

He looked at the little girl in his arms. She seemed to break down every barrier he had erected to keep from feeling anything just by looking him in the eyes. He hadn't even known that it was possible; he had thought his barrier impenetrable. Until now.

What should he do? He had orders to kill every Uchiha and he had already let his little brother live. So, she couldn't stay here. She most defiantly couldn't come with him. He was heading down a dark path that no one could follow.

Then an idea came to him. He would send her where he sent another girl a couple of months ago. A couple of years ago he had been exploring different dimensions when he had come across a dimension called earth. He had visited it many times and it seemed like the safest place to send people he just couldn't bear to kill. But in saying that, he hadn't sent the last little girl to earth because he couldn't kill them. No, he had sent her there for entirely different reasons. Because it was far too dangerous for her to be kept in this realm.

Although it would break his heart to send her away, it must be done to keep her safe. He would send the woman along with her, he was sure she could protect her. But, what if he was wrong and she wasn't safe on earth? That was a startling thought.

Just to be safe, he bent down and put his hand on the woman's chest and cast a 'jutsu' (like a magic spell) that would send her back and anything within a three meter radius or anything that is touching her to this dimension if she was on the brink of death by unnatural causes. He did the same to the baby. Then with a goodbye kiss on the baby's forehead, he sent them to Earth using his sharingan. A power that resides in the eye, his clan possessed it and few others.

That day Itachi cried tears of blood for all he had lost and killed every shred of feeling he had inside himself to complete the last mission he had been given. He would become the enemy to become the saviour his village needed to survive the coming years. The only regret he had was not asking the woman the name of his daughter. The daughter he would never see again.

…

The woman woke up with a vicious headache. Her body felt like someone had run over her with a horse and cart…then backed up…then backed up again. She opened her eyes tentatively and squinted in the harsh light and looked around the almost blindly white room. Where am I? She thought. The last thing she remembered was…she sat up quickly looking around for the baby. She was right next to her bed in her own small bed. She sighed in relief. Now to figure out where she was.

Before she could get out of bed the curtain was pulled back and a doctor walked in. She sat on the edge of the bed.

"Oh good your awake" said the doctor. The doctor had brown hair and blue eyes that were gentle and warm. She checked her chart and smiled down at her making her feel strangely relaxed.

"You had bruises on your throat when they found you and the baby on the side of the road. A car nearly ran over you" she said calmly and soothingly.

"A what?" Asked the woman in confusion at the seemly foreign word.

The doctor frowned in worry. Could she have amnesia? The doctor wondered.

"What is your name? Can you remember?" said the doctor asked kindly.

"Shannon"

"And the baby's name?"

…

14 years later, Earth, Myber High School

"Jasmine Ahichu, Hurry up! How long does it take you to put on a t-shirt! " the aggravated voice of my best friend, Tian Fox carried easily through the flimsy wooden door of the toilet stall I stood in. Digging through my bag I tried to find the t-shirt I was sure I put in there that morning for sport. I got down to the bottom of my bag and there was still no t-shirt to be found. Giving up I opened the door and walked out of the stall.

Tian was casually leaning against the bathroom wall reading. Tian is average height, skinny and has pale skin with longish dark brown hair that she usually wore out and had light blue eyes. She was wearing the school uniform, a navy t-shirt with a skirt and had a small bell tied around her neck with a red ribbon that she always wore, some people at school call her weird for it, I call her unique.

Tian uses what I call radical honesty, she doesn't keep people guessing as to how she feels about them, if she doesn't like you; trust me when I say you'll know it. Although Tian doesn't look very dangerous when she is calm, when she's angry or pissed off, watch out if you want to stay in one piece. Especially now that Tian and I have our black belts in karate.

Karate classes was so totally not our idea, trust me. It was our friends' Melleny. Learning karate seemed like so much work that I just couldn't be bothered to do and Tian had similar opinions. However, she kept bugging us to such an extent that we gave up after a while. We complained the entire way but now that we have our black belts though, it's nice knowing that you could kick some serious but if we wanted to.

I knew she was aware of me but she didn't look up from the book she was reading as I walked to her side. I got a glimpse of the front cover and was not at all shocked at what I saw; it was our favourite series manga/anime 'Naruto'. Tian and I are always reading Naruto, watching Naruto or writing on fan fiction about Naruto.

It was then I remembered the Naruto Shippuden manga book I had currently in my bag that I had borrowed from the school library this morning. I was itching to read it and if I had it my way, I would be curled up in my bedroom reading it and getting lost in the world of Naruto. Unfortunately, life in my experience doesn't give a shit what you want. Suddenly Tian's voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Took you long enough" she said finally looking up, her expression changing from bored to amuse as she looked at me.

"I thought the whole point of you going into the bathroom was so you could get changed for P.E?"

I was confused for a second because while she had been talking my thoughts had strayed to Naruto again, so it took me a moment to process what she had said.

"I couldn't find my t-shirt." I said faintly, and we exited the bathroom together. Together we were famous for being the laziest people alive. Dead people are more active than we are.

We slowly and grudgingly headed down to the bottom field where our class was warming up for a game of netball by running around the outside of the field. We fell in step with our friend Melleny who was jogging easily.

Melleny has really midnight black hair and brown eyes which both look black in the shad. I saw she was wearing black joggers with long black tights along with a blue pair of shorts and a black P.E shirt on. Melleny was a quick thinker and had an unusual sense of humour that both I and Tian shared. She was also the person you went to for fashion advice. Because god knows that I don't have any.

Tian and Melleny had been orphans until Shannon adopted them when they were around five years old or so Shannon told them, which would explain why they all have different last names. Jasmine had no memories of a time that she wasn't with Tian or Melleny and to her knowledge neither did they.

Both Tian and Melleny were famous at school for having hot tempers that were quickly roused. Everyone at school had learned long ago to run for the hills if one of them was upset. Not even the meanest bullies at school would dare get them angry purposefully. They just weren't that stupid or suicidal. As for me my temper it was known to be just as fierce maybe worse but not as easy to rouse. Truth is I just can't be bothered to waste the energy most of the time.

As me and Tian started jogging alongside her they started to talk about how lame this was and although I agreed with them wholeheartedly, I was bored of the very familiar conversation we had every P.E lesion, so I zoned out.

I wondered if Naruto had to change for training or if he was just always in his training cloths. That got me thinking of where the hell my P.E. t-shirt had gone. I swear I put a t-shirt in my bag this morning-

My lake of concentration on where I was going cost me dearly as I found out a few seconds later, when I walked straight into the goal post. Boy that was fun! Note the sarcasm.

I staggered back my head reeling from the pain emanating from my face. I could feel blood pouring from my nose and mouth, feel it trickling down the side of my face. It was the last thing I remember before my vision went black.

…

I woke up slowly but didn't open my eyes and thought that it was probly time to get ready for school but was so not willing to do anything about it yet. I took a deep breath in, only to breathe in the smell i hated most in the world; the combination of disinfectant, death and that disgusting flowery smell that was supposed to disguise the other two smells but in my opinion it only made it smell worse. In that instant knew exactly where I was.

I sat up quickly and my eyes flashed open. I looked around the small white room with a curtain pulled closed at the entrance with a stool next to the bed I lay on. I started to wonder why the blazing hell I was in a hospital when I remembered what had happened.

I gently lifted my hand to touch my nose and flinched from both the pain and the embarrassing memory. Tian was going to have a field day over this. I seriously have to work on watching where I was going and not getting distracted so easily.

I looked up at the sound of the curtain being pulled back and Shannon, Tian as well as a nurse walked in. Shannon took me in when my parents died when I was little. Shannon is my aunt.

Shannon is also the one to create 'Naruto', me and my friend's favourite manga series. It was only when it became very popular online did it turn into an anime series. Shannon is an awesome drawer and having your aunt draw the best manga series on earth was the coolest thing ever. Me and my friends are always bugging her to give us hints on what's going to happen in the next episode and every time we ask we always get the same bloody answer 'you'll know, when I know'. It doesn't make any sense! Shannon always refuses to elaborate and that can get incredibly annoying.

Without realising it I was getting so work up just thinking about it, my heart rate started to increase and the machine next to me that was attached to clip on my finger that was supposed to monitor my heart rate started to beep madly. As soon as I realised this I made an effort to calm down.

The nurse, who was a small brunette with glasses on top of her head and a stern look upon her face walked over and picked up my chart.

"Is she going to be okay?" Shannon asked the nurse with a worried frown.

Shannon had a face that said she smiled a lot although at the moment her face was worried. With black hair, dark brown eyes, she was a smallish in height, although she had an air around her that said that she was used to being in charge and that's the way she liked it.

"She broke her nose and has a bad concussion but she should be fine in a couple of weeks, we will keep her in for observation tonight and you can take her home tomorrow" said the nurse.

I think that now Tian knew that I was okay she felt that the seriousness of the situation had dissipated, because at that moment she started to laugh hysterically. Not that I wasn't expecting it, but it still made my face hot with embarrassment.

"I …can't…. Believe you...you….Ran into a….pole!" her entire body shock from her laughter.

I glared at her and stuck my tongue out at her, which only made her laugh harder. I was never going to live this down! Groaning I tried to block out her howls of laughter by covering my head with my pillow. This only succeeded in making my head hurt at the pressure.

"She should not be left alone for a few days" said the nurse in a bored tone, totally ignoring us.

"Okay. Me, Tian and Mel will pick you up at 4.00pm, okay hon.? We will watch movies, eat popcorn and have a girl's night in, how does that sound?" Shannon said cheerfully.

"Cool" I said

We talked some more before they left to go home. Finally alone I reached down for the Naruto shippuden book I had wanted to read ever since I opened my eyes. I opened to the first page and was soon lost in the world of Naruto.

Naruto is about a boy who has inside him what's called the 'nine-tales fox spirit' or the 'Kyubi'. The nine-tales is a powerful being that has an almost unbelievable amount of power. And it was sealed inside Naruto to stop it from destroying their village when he was an infant and for military purposes. The 'Naruto world' as we call it is a world full of Ninja. The 'Naruto world' is ruled by the five Great Nations that each battle for power and dominance. Each Great Nation has a hidden village that is the central commanding point and where most kids are trained in ninja skills. Naruto comes from the Hidden Leaf Village. Each Nation is ruled by what is called a Kage. The leader of the hidden leaf village is called the Hokage.

Even though I had already seen the TV episode of this I was still exited as ever to read it. All my friends are basically obsessed with Naruto. It's practically the only thing we talk about these days. This is a little depressing in my opinion.

We all have our favourite characters and episodes and battles. For example, Tian love's a character called Gaara. Notice how I said LOVES not likes or fancies, I said LOVES, as in bordering on obsession love.

Gaara has a sand demon in him and much like Naruto his demon is called the 'one-tailed beast' or 'Shukaku '. Gaara believes that his purpose in life is killing people; until he met Naruto then he turned good.

Gaara was hated by his village, The Hidden Sand Village and because of that he had had a rough childhood that caused Gaara to hate the people around him. When he got older he separated himself both mentally and physically from the people around him even his brother and sister; thinking that the relationship would only cause him more pain. This in turn only made the villagers more scared of him and the power he is able to wield. Numerous attempts were made on his life, including an attempt by his own father. The only protection he had was his special sand that is infused with his mothers' spirit and will to protect her son (but you don't find that out till later though). In the book I was currently reading Gaara thinks that it is the One-tailed demon beast that protects him because if Gaara dies so does he.

When Gaara met Naruto, Naruto showed Gaara that having friends and relationships with people is a good thing. That true power comes from loving your friends and family enough to fight for them.

Naruto is said to have the power to change people and he shows people throughout the series that it's never too late to change who you are to become who you want to be. He does this without even realising what he's doing. His raw truthful actions and words influence people in a way that most people thought impossible. When Gaara went back to his village after he turned good he made a massive effort to connect with the people around him and build relationships, which proved fruitful in the years to come.

In the book that I was reading now Gaara is about to become Kazekage (Like a king) of his village, the village Hidden in the Sand. Most of the characters are around the age of 16 and Naruto has spent the last thirteen months training with master Jiriaya, his teacher, to become a better ninja. He wants to get stronger so he can rescue his best friend from the path of evil, a boy named Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke wants the power to destroy his extremely powerful brother Itachi who killed his entire clan.

The Uchiha clan is famous for their special eyes called the sharingan. The sharingan has many powers that can bend the laws of physics or break them entirely. It allows the owner of the sharingan to copy other people's actions; this can become very useful in a fight. It is also used for Genjutsu a powerful technique that is like hypnotising people. It can also allow the owner of a strong sharingan to travel to different dimension or send someone or something to a different universe, making the Uchiha clan quiet powerful. They were all slaughtered in one night down to every woman and child by saskuke's brother, Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto is on his way to the Sand Village to congratulate Gaara on becoming Kasakage. I was so absorbed in the story that I gave jumped when the curtain was pulled back and a nurse came in to take my temperature. After she was done she walked out but didn't close the curtain properly and a slither of light pierced the darkness of the room. I looked over at the clock that was hung on the wall showed that it was, 12.30 am. I sighed wanting to continue reading but knowing that if I didn't go to sleep no I would be really tired in the morning. I put the book down, turned over and was asleep in seconds.

…

This time when I woke up I remembered what had happened. I opened my eyes and wondered if it morning yet? But, there were no windows in the room and it was too dim in the room to see the clock. Sighing I sat up, only to have a wave of dizziness wash over me. After the dizziness past a pounding headache immediately started in my temples. I wonder if they have aspirin. As soon as the thought crossed my mind I answered myself sarcastically aloud.

"Well that was a stupid question Jasmine, of course they have aspirin, it's a hospital dipshit! I know you just got hit in the head but come on"

I berated myself for a little longer until I realised that a tall lady doctor with brown hair and eyes wearing a black suite pants with a white tucked in shirt and a white doctor's coat was standing at the door giving me a strange look.

She was probly wondering if I ran away from the mental ward. The doctor walked over to the end of my bed and picked up the chart that was hanging there and gave it a thorough once over. Seemingly satisfied with what was on it she put the chart back in its place and looked at me.

"Hello Jasmine my name is Doctor Julio" we shook hands and we talked for a bit about what I should and shouldn't do. She gave me some pain meds and we talked about when to take it and where I could get more and about getting a check-up in a couple of days. Then she was gone leaving me to go check on other patients.

I read Naruto until it was time to be discharged. I signed the discharge papers at the front desk and walked out of the hospital only to find Tian, Mel and Shannon already outside waiting for me. They all looked up from their conversation as i greeted them.

"Hey Jas" said Shannon casually, she was wearing a plain blue top with three quarter black pants and looked like she was about to go jogging. That was Shannon for you, always ready to exercise. We walked to the car and all squished in.

Started talking about Naruto and as usual Shannon went quiet. She always had a faraway look as if she was remembering something unpleasant, when we started to talk about 'Naruto' In front of her. She always did this and I knew that it didn't go unnoticed by the others.

I squished in to the back seat of Shannon's small car with Mel and Tian. Shannon started the engine and soon we were on the highway heading for home. I was looking out the window when it happened. I only remember it as a sound-a long, cacophonous shredding, grating sound, metal upon metal, crumpling together like paper. I heard Shannon scream and then I felt something pierce my stomach. The pain of it was blinding. I was in so much pain I couldn't even find the breath to scream. The air from my lungs left me on impact and I remember thinking that I was going to die, before she felt like she was being sucked upward then everything went black.

Chapter 2

Naruto Uzumaki was casually walking with teacher Jiriaya though the forest on the outskirts of the Hidden Sand Village. They were headed to the Sand Village to see Gaara's coronation ceremony. Naruto was a little angry that his friend had made kage before him, but he was still happy for him. Naruto dream is to become the kage of his village, the village hidden in the leaves. The path that they walked on was surrounded by trees and flowers, the sun beat down on them and they knew that it would only get worse as they travelled further. The village was located in the desert after all.

"I think this is the first time a jinchuriki has become a kage" Jiriaya said absently, almost to himself. Jiriaya was a fit, tall and large man. He was in his early fifty's or late forties. With long pure white hair that fell to his thigh tied loosely back with tendrils framing his face. His clans symbol marked his face, two tattooed red lines that started at his eye then went down his cheek as though he were crying a steady stream of blood.

"What's a Jinchuriki?" Naruto said in a confused tone.

"A Jinchuriki is someone who hosts one of the tailed beasts inside of them. There are nine beasts in total" Said Jiriaya, looking at Naruto as they walked.

"Am I Jinchi- whatever you said" he said questioningly.

"Its jinchuriki and yes you have the nine tailed beast inside you, so you are a jinchuriki" said Jiriaya in a voice that sounded like he was talking to a two year old. Naruto glared at him, Jiriaya just laughed.

"Shut up, Pervy Sage!" Naruto shot at Jiriaya

"Haven't I told you a million times, not to call me that?" Jiriaya said, annoyed.

"I am a great novelist that just happens to be inspired be youth and beauty!" Jiriaya said defensively.

"That's just your lame excuse to perve on women" Naruto said bluntly.

"My research is very-"Jiriaya didn't get to finished because suddenly there was a bright flash of light that blinded them. Naruto and Jiriaya thought it was someone ambushing them, so when they could see again they immediately pulled their weapons out and prepared to fight.

The sight that greeted them was something neither of them expected. Four women were unconscious and bleeding profusely on the ground at their feet. One of them had had a large ragged piece of glass in the side of her side, her pitch black hair was stained with blood and her companions were in no better shape although she seemed the worse. One had a nasty head wound and numerous shards of glass sticking out of her, but it looked like shallow injuries. The other two also were seriously injured but it didn't look as bad as the other two.

Naruto gasped then ran over to the women. Jiriaya looked around trying to figure out what had just happened. Naruto reached out a hand to touch the woman with lots of bits of glass piercing her entire body.

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	2. Chapter 2

Naruto gasped then ran over to the women. Jiriaya looked around trying to figure out what had just happened. Naruto reached out a hand to touch the woman with lots of bits of glass piercing her entire body.

"Don't touch them very hard Naruto, you might do more damage." said Jiriaya, quickly. Naruto pulled his hand back.

"What the hell is going on?" said Naruto and backed away do Jiriaya's side.

Jiriaya was quite for a moment, contemplating what to do.

There was something weird about how they just appeared here. I can't put my finger on it. Something isn't right. And what's with their injuries? It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Had they been fighting an enemy and one of them transported them here using some strange Jutsu? But, none of them look like they have the strength to pull it off. Hell, none of them are even conscience! So, what then? Someone else transported them here? Was it a coincident that they landed in front of us? Was it the evil Akatsuki groups' doing? The Akatsuki is a mysterious organisation created by a group of ninja who abandoned their own villages. The organisation was created to accomplish an unknown common goal. We know they want all nine of the jinjuriki's including Naruto and Gaara for some still unknown reason. As it is they only knew that with the power of all nine tailed beasts under their control there will be no chance at defeating them. Are these women some sort of trap? Have they finally made their move? Or am I reading too much into this? I had better keep an eye on them and in any case they need medical attention.

"We need to quickly get them to the Sand Village for medical attention" said Jiriaya making up his mind to wait and see what happens, he then bit his thumb till it was tricking blood then slammed it to the ground simultaneously saying,

"Summoning Jutsu!"

As soon as the words left his mouth a toad the size of a mansion appeared next to them crushing everything it sat on. The toad was brown and green with a long scar over one eye and a long wooden pipe hanging out of his mouth. He also had a long black sword at his hip that was sheathed in black leather and tied around his waist with a belt.

"Hey, Chief!" shouted Naruto up to the toad.

"Long times no see, Naruto" said Chief in a cheerful, deep and arrogant voice that made his pipe move up and down every time he spoke.

"We need to get the sand Village as fast as possible." said Jiriaya quickly and pointedly looked at the bleeding women. Chief didn't need further explanation.

"You got it" said chief and he rolled out his huge tongue to gently lift all four women and put them on his back. Naruto and Jiriaya hopped on his back as well.

Chief started to hop in great leaps, heading toward the Hidden Sand Village. Chief was a summoning animal that ninja that have signed a contract with can summon at will. Both Naruto and Jiriaya's summoning animal were toads. Scenery flashed past like a blur leaving Naruto a little sick at the speed. He held on tight and gritted his teeth.

It didn't take them long to get to their destination, thanks to Chief. Soon they arrived at a great sand wall that went around the entire village. It served as both a barricade towards enemies and protection against sand storms.

Two men wearing identical brown coloured robes and a white sash tied around there middle, exited from the entrance gate in the wall. The entrance gate to the village consisted of a steel gate that was as tall as the wall and had ominous looking metal spikes at the top.

As the two men reached them, Naruto and Jiriaya jumped off the toad to land softly together in the sand.

The man on the left took a step forward and said,

"Please state your names and purpose"

Jiriaya stated his name and Naruto's and the man in the right wrote it down on a clip board he held in his hand.

"What is your purpose for visiting the sand village today?" the man asked

"We found these women near the outskirts of the village, we were on our way to see Gaara's incorination, they need medical attention as soon as possible" said Naruto seriously.

Chief toad pulled the women off his back with his tongue and gently laid them down on the soft warm sand. The men's eyes widened.

"Get a medical team with four stretchers out here stat!" yelled the man toward the gate. A couple of minutes later stretchers were brought out and the women were carried away.

Jiriaya and Naruto followed them to the hospital located in middle of the village. They were received at the door and four different doctors quickly walked towards the women and started to check them over.

They were ushered into a small waiting room where they waited a couple of hours. The door opened and a middle aged man walked in. He had light brown hair and kind green eyes, he was a tall and he wore a white and brown uniform.

"I am doctor Lenox, the healer in charge of the four women" He said in greeting as he came over to them.

"Are they going to be okay?" said Naruto urgently, standing up.

"They all sustained serious injuries and if they had been left unattended they would have been fatal. We healed them in the sacred healing chambers of our village" said the doctor, "and even though we have done all we could we are not sure if one of the women will make it" He let out a tired breath.

"Have you identified them yet?" said Jiriaya his face showing no emotion.

The doctor hesitated for a moment then said "The women all had purses on them with identification on it, in a way that I have never seen before"

"What do you mean?" said Naruto extremely confused.

"Have a look for yourself" and pulled something out of his pocket

It was four small purses. One was dark green and had a long strap, another which was dark brown with an olive coloured gem in the middle attached to it and no straps, there was also a dark purple almost identical to the brown one the last of the purses that was made out of black leather and had a skull and crossbow on it. The doctor opened the brown one and turned it to face them.

The first thing Naruto looked at was a little card was encased in a plastic covering that faintly reflected their faces. The small card was white besides a small emblem in the corner and the words, Jasmine Ahichu, age 16, year 10, student number 1445, Tralvani high School. There was also a small picture of a black haired girl that was smiling up at the camera. Naruto remembered her as the girl that had glass in her side. She reminded him of someone but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened once again and a man around the age of eighteen walked through the door. He had shocking short blood red hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to go on forever if you looked directly at them. His eyes also had thick black rings around them that gave him a dangerous and ominous look; he was not very tall, despite that though he had an intense commanding presence. He seemed to bleed power, strength and wisdom far beyond what you would expect of an eighteen year old. He was wearing a blood red robe that matched his hair perfectly. A white sash went from shoulder to his hip that supported a gourd the colour of sand to his back. It was half the size of his body and yet he carried it effortlessly. When he spoke his voice was low, deep and breathy, his words seemed to flow gently over your skin like smoke.

"It's good to see you again Naruto, it's been a while" He said as he walked gracefully over to them.

"You too Gaara" Said Naruto, his voice filled with affection. Gaara smiled gently and Naruto beamed back at him. Two more men entered the room and quietly stood behind Gaara. Gaara greeted Jiriaya then the doctor.

"What brings you two here?" Gaara asked

"Did you really think I would miss your coronation?" Naruto said as if it was the most stupidest question in the world.

"I meant what are you doing the hospital wing?" Gaara said and Naruto's face went slightly red.

Naruto told him what had happened and after he had finished his story there was a moment of silence. You could practically hear the thoughts buzzing in everyone's head; who are these strange women? Where did they come from? What was the bright flash of light? How did they end up injured and by whom? Gaara broke the silence.

"Jiroko, Hichiri, I want you both to look personally into this matter, I want to know who these women are and where they come from as soon as possible" He said commandingly

The men behind Gaara went down on one knee and said together,

"Of course Kazekage", then they were gone in a blink of an eye.

"I thought your coronation was a week from now?" Naruto said, confused.

"The pre-coronation was done a few days ago and although it won't be official until next week, technically I am Kazekage"

"Cool" said Naruto impressed.

A suddenly opened and a nurse hurried in to face the doctor.

"They are awake, doctor" she said.

Chapter 3

Jasmine woke up to a dull pain in her side. She remembered what had happened and she figured she was in a hospital. Again. Two times in one day, that's a new record. Go me, Jasmine thought lamely. She wondered how the others were. They couldn't be dead. She refused to even contemplate that. No matter how much she tried not to though, she kept replaying the car crash in her head and Shannon's scream seemed to echo continuously in her ears. She needed to know if everyone was okay.

Jasmine started to sit up in the surprisingly soft hospital bed to look around her. She was in a large room and her cubical was one of four spread out across it. Her bed was on one side of the room and there were two directly opposite her. The curtain of each of them was pulled back so she could see if anyone occupied them. Her mouth felt so dry when she called out for a nurse. Two nurses opened the sliding door to walk into the big room.

"Oh, good your awake" one of them said. She was wearing a pink and white uniform and had a name tag that said, nurse Lilly Firaja.

"How are my friends?" Jasmine said, getting straight to the point and skipping pleasantries.

"Have a look for yourself" she said.

The nurses pulled back two curtains on the opposite side of the room to reveal Melleny and Tian. They had bandages everywhere but they were alive. Both of them had their eyes open and were looking around the room.

"I will go tell the doctor that they are awake" said the other nurse quietly and left the room quickly.

"Where is Shannon?" Jasmine said, worried.

"She is still being treated" Nurse Lilly said vaguely.

"Where the hell are we?" Tian said rudely interrupting them. Jasmine had known Tian for a long time and knew just by looking at her friend that she was pissed and extremely irritated because she was in pain and obviously had little or no patience left... not that she had much in the first place but, that's not the point. Note to self don't angry Tian for any reason whatsoever.

The nurse stepped forward and said to all of their surprise and disbelief,

"You are in the hospital of The Hidden Sand Village"

There was dead silence. After a couple of seconds and what she had said sunk in, they all burst out laughing.

"No, seriously" Tian said laughing so hard she was gasping for breath.

The nurse looked thoroughly confused. Before she could say something, the sliding door opened quietly and Gaara, Naruto, Jiriaya followed by two nurses and doctor Lexon entered the room.

Tian was still laughing her head off so she didn't hear them come in. Jasmine and Melleny did though and as soon they recognised them, they gawked in disbelieve and amazement. There was no mistaking who these people are, thought Jasmine awestruck.

"Holy crap" whispered Melleny.

Tian finally stopped laughing to turn in her bed to see what they were looking at. Her jaw fell open and her eyes widened.

"Please say you're seeing what I'm seeing" Tian whispered loudly, while staring at Gaara.

"Are they who I think they are?" Melleny asked in the same loud whisper.

"I think so" Jasmine said shakily.

Naruto frowned in annoyance and said half angry, half amused, "You do know we can hear you, right?"

Jasmine and Melleny jumped at the sound of his voice. Tian was too busy staring at Gaara to notice that Naruto had even spoken. She could have been on fire and she wouldn't have noticed.

Tian looked like a child that had been given the moon for her birthday. She was kneeling on her bed facing Gaara, her eyes as wide as saucers, her jaw was slack and she was close to hyperventilating.

"G…g…Gaara?" Tian asked in a voice so low if the room wasn't dead silent you wouldn't have been able to hear her.

It was obvious to everyone that Gaara was a little freaked out by Tian. He was hesitant and wary but polite when he answered,

"Yes, I am Gaara"

"Oh. My. G…" Tian didn't get to finish because at that moment her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted dead way, falling off the bed completely and landing in a crumpled heap at Gaara's feet. Gaara immediately went to help her, but he had his hands around her waist to help her back onto the bed when she came to.

She opened her eyes and for a moment before she focused on Gaara. Her eyes widened and her face went red.

"Gaara's touching me" she whispered and fainted. Again.

"That was predictable" said Jasmine under her breath. Tian isn't usually one to faint; then again she did just meet the man she had been crushing on for about ten years and to a seventeen year old that a very long time. She turned to sit on the bed facing there unexpected visitors.

"She reminds me of Hinata. She is always fainting if I even looked at her" Naruto said exasperated.

Jiriaya laughed at the clueless kid that had no idea that Hinata actually had a massive crush on him since they were small kids. He patted Naruto on the back sympathetically and he was about to say something, when a voice behind them interrupted them.

"Um, excuse me?" said Melleny angrily. They all turned to face her.

"Would someone like to tell me, WHAT THE HELLL IS GOING ON!?" she practically screeched. Melleny was so confused and angry, she just wanted answers to her numerous questions.

"As was mentioned earlier my name is Gaara and I am Kazekage of the Village hidden in the sand" said Gaara stepping forward.

"Riiiiiight", Melleny drew the word out in a way that said plainly, that she thought he was crazy and delusional.

"It's true" Naruto said defensively.

"Prove it, Gaara can manipulate sand" Jasmine said not believing that it could be true. This must be a dream or hallucination. Maybe I've gone crazy? It scared Jasmine to the bone that that actually made the most sense. I could be in a white cell with straight jacket on rocking backwards and forth and having this hallucination because of the drugs they gave me to sedate me and-. Jasmine calm down, she scolded herself. Take a deep breath and calm down. You are being irrational and your fear is making your mind think up ridicules stories. At least that is what she hoped. Think about the situation rationally and calmly. She kept repeating mantra that in her head. It helped to a degree.

"Why shou-"Naruto cut off when Gaara raised his hand.

"It's okay Naruto, if they want proof I will show them proof" Gaara said nonchalantly.

He reached behind his back to uncork the lid of the gourd. Then Gaara drew his hand back as he did this, sand came out of the gourd to follow his hands movements. The sand flowed out like water and Gaara seemed to have complete control of it. The sand looked almost alive, it was very aerie.

He opened his hand out as if to cup something in his palm and the sand gathered there in a ball the size of a tennis ball. He held the ball in his fingers and it looked solid. He looked at Jasmine then gently through the sand ball to her. She caught it and stared at it in amazement. This is real. There could be no mistaking it. The feel of the ball was surprisingly smooth and hard.

"I still don't believe that we're actually here" said Melanie stubbornly.

"Why not?" Gaara said and although he looked very confused although some how he managed to look perfectly calm at the same time.

"Because it's physically impossible, you are a cartoon character! You can't be real. I'm having a hallucination-I mean, we were just in a car crash! We're probably all in hospital at home, doped up on pain medication. Yeah that's what this is" Her voice was shaking on the verge of panicked.

The doctor gave Melleny a strange look that said she needed a CAT scan and quietly leaned over to the nurse beside him to whisper something in her ear. The nurse also looked at Melleny and silently looked over at Melleny too. She then walked over to her and put her hand on her forehead waited for a moment, then totally ignoring Melleny turned to Jasmine.

"Does she have a history of psychological trauma?" The nurse asked politely.

"I AM NOT CRAZY!" Melleny screamed at the top of her voice. Jasmine began to laugh so hard she held her sides.

The look on the nurse's face said that she thought they were both of their rockers. Suddenly Tian came awake with a happy scream. She was staring at Gaara. Again.

This should be funny, Jasmine thought.

Everyone went on high alert. Doctors came pouring through the door, guards came rushing in.

Tian jumped off the bed so fast no one had time to stop her. She literally jumped from the bed into Gaara. Her hands flew around his waist and she started to jump up and down excitedly taking Gaara with her. Gaara's head was wobbling up and down on his neck and he looked shocked and amazed especially when she started to scream at top of her lungs,

"You are so totally awesome!"

Everyone in the room was in shock, except for Melleny and Jasmine who were laughing so hard their eyes were watering. The guards finally started to move forward to try and pry Tian off of Gaara. She proved to be stubborn though and she would not move off of him. Tian turned her head to glare at the guards so fiercely the guards looked taken aback and even a little scared. Especially when she said dead seriously,

"The next time you lay your hands on me, will be the last time you have hands"

The guard's faces went pale. Melleny and Jasmine laughed even harder. Jiriaya lifted one eye brow in amusement. Before anyone could move, the nurses at the entrance suddenly bowed their heads and gasped," Lord Kankuro, Lady Tamari".

A tall man walked hurriedly through the door. He had brown hair and eyes and his face had thick dark purple strokes that looked like tattoos. It went across his nose as well as purple triangles going from the outside of his face inwards in four different corners of his face and painted purple lips. He also had an object tied to his back in a way much like Gaara, except the object was long and covered in bandages and what looked like brown hair coming out of the top of it.

It looks like a mummy, thought Jasmine.

This was not the first time she had thought this. Kankuro had appeared many times in 'Naruto'. He was Gaara's older brother. He was a puppet master (he can control puppets with his powers) and the object tied to his back was actually his puppet that is an exact copy of himself. Sometimes he switches places with his puppet on his back to confuse his enemies. No one knows puppets better than Kankuro. He and Gaara had had a pretty bad relationship before Gaara decided to change his bloody ways. You would never guess that now. Kankuro is quite protective of his younger brother and you can tell when he looks at Gaara that he loves him very much.

Following Kankuro was his sister Temari. She had blonde hair that was tied into four ponytails in a square shape which would probably look silly on anyone else but her. She was average height and had a massive closed fan strapped to her back that she used to literally 'blow away' her enemies. She feels the same way Kankuro feels about Gaara. Her eyes widened at the scene in front of her.

A strange woman was clinging to her younger brother. Gaara had the most confused expression she had ever seen it almost made her laugh- If there wasn't some random chick clinging to her brother like a leach. Kankuro started laughing at Gaara's predicament so hard he ended up bending over at the waist and having to hold himself up by putting his hands on his knees. Temari glared at the guards exasperated.

"What are you waiting for you idiots?! Get her off the Kazekage!" Temari shouted furiously at the guards. Forgetting Tian's earlier warning they snapped into action, rushing to obey their superior.

There were four guards in total that rushed to pull her off. Two held Gaara around the waist the other two grabbed onto Tian and pulled and she proved stubborn but eventually they managed finally to pull them apart. But that was only because Tian had gone frozen and ridged as soon as the guards had touched her. Melleny and Jasmine stopped laugh instantly as they recognised when there friend wasn't playing around.

"She did warn them" said Melleny in a surprisingly serious voice that was tinged with amusement and sarcasm.

"What do you mean?" said Jiriaya curiously.

"Well you see, Tian REALLY doesn't like to be touched by strangers" said Jasmine also dead seriously, without taking her eyes off the scene in front of them.

"So?" Said Naruto

Jasmine sighed wearily then gave a short laugh and said,

"You are about to find out why you should never touch Tian without permission first"


	3. Chapter 3

"You are about to find out why you should never touch Tian without permission first"

Tian turned her head slowly to face the guards.

"Let go of me right now" she said calmly. Too calmly. It was the type of calm that said she was on the brink of violence.

"What you going to do about it" One guards said meanly as he restrained her with another guard by holding her waist and arms. The other guard began to tease her also and meanwhile Tian's fury mounted but they either didn't seem to notice or were too overconfident in their ability to restrain her. Tian moved so fast the guards didn't have time to react.

She grabbed of the guards hands and spun around elegantly taking his hand with her until there was a sickening crack that echoed through the room. He howled in pain and griped his hand agony written all over his face. He looked at Tian and anger overrode his pain as he and began to run toward Tian with a murderous look in his eye. Tian grabbed the back of the guard's neck and used his momentum to kick him in the balls. There was a dull thunk and then he went down like a rock.

Who the hell is this chick? How the hell was she able to drop the guard so fast? He had noticed that as soon as the guards had touched her, dark energy seemed to trickling out of her pours then she seemed to become a totally different person. The energy is unstable and was faint. So faint I am probably the only one in the room who could detect it and that's only because I am a sage, thought Jiriaya curiously.

The other guard looked at his friend on the ground in stunned silence, growled in fury then charged at Tian. Tian moved to the side just in time and the guard ran straight into the wall behind them then he too fell to the ground. Tian looked at them on the floor.

"Never touch me ever again"

Tian had her back turned to everyone in the room stubbornly ignoring them. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if trying to brush away the memory of their touch. A voice boomed out breaking the silence.

"Wow" said Jiriaya slyly "you sure do have a temper, but I like that in woman"

Naruto kicked him in the shins and Jiriaya let out a small yelp of pain.

"What was that for?!" Jiriaya said and ignoring Naruto, he slowly walked over to Tian and was about to put his hand on her shoulder, when Tian turned her head to looked at him, looked at the men on the ground, then to his hand and raised one eyebrow, as if to say 'do you really want to do that?'.

Jiriaya quickly pulled his hand back and took a step back.

He's smarter than he looks, thought Melleny. Jasmine and Melleny moved at the same time to go over to their friend and stood on either side of her. They spoke quietly to her until she had calmed down then turned to face the room that was still crowded with people although the guards and the nurses seemed to have gone.

The only people left was Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Jiriaya, Naruto and the doctor who was helping the nurses carry away the men.

"We hope that Tian isn't in trouble for-"Jasmine started to say but Gaara held his hand up to stop her.

"She is not in trouble" he said simply and continued in a casual voice as if nothing had happened,

"Good, thankyou" Said Jasmine a little awkwardly.

"Now, may I ask your names?"

Jasmine stepped forward

"My name is Jasmine Ahichu" then she pointed behind her,

"This is Tian fox and Melleny Taylor"

"What land do you come from?" said Kankuro

They looked at each other. The same thoughts were going through all of their minds. What do we tell them? Do we dare tell then the truth? Before they could say something though Melleny's phone rang, her ring tone was a screamo song from a band that she loved. The words that was unrecognisable because they were being screamed so loud that it could shatter ones eardrums, the music was no softer. You would never guess that she liked screamo but Melleny had gotten into it a couple of months ago. Jasmine hoped it was just a phase and one she would get over as soon as possible.

How on earth can someone call this music? Thought Jasmine and not for the first time too. Ever since Melleny had gotten into screamo, her ears had severely paid the price because Melleny was always asking her opinion on a new screamo song. Jasmine shivered in horror at the memories, her ears still hadn't recovered from the last song.

Jasmine looked up to see a scene of chaos and panic. While she had been thinking everyone else in the room was freaking out because of the ringtone. Not that Jasmine blamed them and for people that had never heard screamo before they were taking it pretty well in her opinion. Gaara and Jiriaya stood there the only ones calmly looking around to try and find the source of the screams. The doctor found the phone first which was located in Melleny's purse. He pulled the phone out that was vibrating and held the phone away from him like it was alive.

Naruto stared at it as if assessing if it was a threat or not. He must have thought it was because a few seconds later he knocked the phone out of the doctor's hand and stated to smash it with his foot wildly.

"What the hell was that!?" Naruto exclaimed. All of a sudden his instincts told him that he was in danger and he spun around trying to find the source of his anxiety. The girl named Melleny was standing behind and staring now at the smashed thing under his foot. Her face went red with rage and she shook with the strength of her emotions.

"How dare you break my new phone" Melleny screamed at Naruto in outrage,

"I only got it last week! Do know how much that cost me you…you…you…Naruto! I'm going to kill you!"

Melleny reached for Naruto, but Tian and Jasmine held her back. It was easier said than done, Melleny was pretty strong and when she was mad her strength seemed to triple.

"Melleny, would you calm down for heaven sakes!" said Jasmine over Melleny's snarls.

"It's only a bloody phone!" said Tian exasperated.

"Yeah, a phone I spend months if not years saving up for!"

"What's a phone?" Naruto said confused as the foreign word. This seemed to infuriate Melleny further.

"He destroyed it without even knowing what it was, you idiot!" Melleny said outraged.

"Take a chill pill!" said Jasmine but it seemed to have no effect.

"I will get the doc to tranquilise you" she said threateningly.

Those words stoped Melleny in her tracks. She was absolutely terrified of needles. She would literally die before having a needle stuck in her arm. You could tell she was thinking about needles because her face was going white and she looked stricken. She then looked at the doctor who was across the other side of the room and shot him the most purely vicious look Jasmine had ever seen. The doctor shrunk back and subtly took a step behind Gaara as if for protection.

"For heaven sakes" muttered Jasmine under her breath. She knew that they were on edge because of everything that has happened and if not for the circumstances they would probably not be getting so worked up. However If Tian and Melleny keep this behaviour up they were going to think we are a bunch savages.

The doors suddenly burst open and a bed was wheeled in by two nurses. The air was tense as they suddenly realised who it was in the bed and they got their first look at Shannon.

"Oh my god" whispered Jasmine in horror. Melleny's shaking hand covered her mouth as she stared at what barley resembled the Shannon they all known and loved. Her black hair was matted with blood, her face was ashen and grey, her breathing shallow and uneven. Cuts were everywhere on her face but those were minor injuries compared to the wound in her gut. There was a huge bit of glass sticking out of her gut that looked like it nearly went through the other side.

All three of them looked sharply at the doctor at the same time with one question going through all of their minds. The doctor who had been speaking with a nurse quietly felt their eyes on him and looked up. His face was sad when he walked over to them and said the words that shattered their hearts into a million pieces. Nine simple yet devastating words,

"I'm sorry but she's not going to make it"

The room was dead silent as the grave news struck them all like a physical punch. A shockwave went through Jasmine and she sank to the floor, hot tears incredulity were trickling out of her eyes to make wet track marks down her cheeks. Images of Shannon smiling and laughing with her, Tian and Melleny over something silly tore through her stomach like serrated claws. She felt like she was going to be sick. Melleny was so still you would think she was a statue if she wasn't holding the side of the bed so hard you could hear it squeak in protest. Melleny was so stunned and devastated she wasn't even aware of the movement. Tian was shuttered and shakily sank to the floor with Jasmine to put her arms around her to offer comfort for Jasmine as well as herself. Agony tore through her chest and settled deep within Tians heart. They were about to lose the only mother figure they had ever had.

Naruto went to move forward with some vague idea in his head to help ease their pain but Jiriaya put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Jiriaya shook his head and Naruto was hesitant for a moment before he stood back. It still made his heart ache to watch someone in so much pain and feel helpless to help.

Gaara slightly turned to Kankuro "make arrangements for these women to be transported to the Kazekage mansion"

Kankuro frowned and was about to protest when Gaara shot him a look that said that he would hear no arguments on this matter. Kankuro bowed his head slightly in respect and left the rook to make the necessary arrangements.

"How long does…?" Jasmine whispered, but was unable to finish the sentence. Doctor Lenox's voice had a tone of sympathy and apology in his voice when he said.

"20 minutes at the most, her lungs were punctured by numerous pieces of glass, some so small they would be impossible to get them out without her lungs collapsing and if we don't remove the glass it will eventually make its way into her blood system and clog up her arteries so no blood can flow thereby killing her." It was a blunt explanation but one they appreciated to some degree. They were too upset to sought out riddles.

Jasmine, Tian and Melleny all were in shock at his words, when Shannon suddenly grabbed Melleny's hand that was still clutching the bed. She jumped and pulled her hand away in reflex. Shannon's eyes were wide and filled with pain when she said unexpectedly firm,

"Where are we?"

"If the nurse isn't bonkers apparently we are in the hidden sand village" Tian said her voice shaking although it was sarcastic, she had tears in her eyes. Jasmine could tell that she meant it as a joke, but to all of their astonishment, Shannon didn't laugh. Her face said that they had just confirmed something for her.

"You don't really think that we are in…?"

Shannon coughed and blood trickled down the side of her mouth. A nurse moved forward but Shannon waved her away with a shaking hand.

"Listen up because I don't have much time to explain about what's going on" her voice had sunken into a frail whisper. She looked at Jiriaya, Gaara and Naruto when she said,

"I know this may be hard to believe but we have come from another world called Earth, I know you will have questions but please I must continue for now, I don't have much time"

"I didn't even know other worlds existed" Naruto said impressed and amazed.

"Wold's, dimensions, realms, whatever you want to call it."

Jiriaya and Gaara were also astonished but chose not to comment. They went into deep thought although they kept listening intently. Shannon turned back to face Jasmine, Tian and Melleny, took a deep shaking breath and continued.

"First I need you to accept that you are in the sand village, you are not hallucinating or on drugs" she said quit seriously although there was a hint of humour in her voice.

She looked around at them, needing confirmation. They all looked at each other, nodded and looked back. They had already seen enough proof, as impossible as it might seem. Jasmine and Tian rose to their feet together and went over to Shannon's bed.

Shannon nodded her head solemnly. She was about to say something but you could see she was hesitant. Tian and Jasmine looked at each other both wondering what she didn't want to say in front of them. Then she seemed to make up her mind about something and continued,

"I am going to tell you something that I am sure you will think is impossible at first but I know in your hearts you know to be true. Firstly let me tell what I know. I don't have the time to put this gently and for that I am deeply sorry girls; I didn't want you to find out about this this way."

She coughed again and a new trickle of blood dripped out of her mouth but she ignored it and continued her story.

"I will admit that I do not know everything, only the basics I fear."

She took deep breath.

"This is not the first time you have been here; I suspect you were all in fact born here"

Tian, Shannon and Melleny's eyes' widened in disbelief and amazement.

"'Naruto' is an anime series, how is it all real?" asked Melleny.

"I have my own special sharingan that lets me see into other dimension with me not having to physically be there. I decided to create Naruto so that that if you were ever sent here you would know what to expect and know what you are up against."

"Before I answer more of your questions let me ask you this, where do you think I got the name Uchiha?"

"From Jasmine's last name Ahichu, it's just spelt backward" said Melleny.

Shannon smiled. "That's what you just assumed, in truth though the situation is backward and for a reason too was she given that name"

Melleny's eyes were darting around in their sockets in fierce concentration then her eyes widened in realisation.

"Do you mean that Jasmine apart of…" said Melleny so shocked she couldn't finish her sentence.

With a small smile Shannon nodded.

Melleny smiled back at Shannon in amazement.

Jasmine frowned. "I'm totally lost"

"Ditto" said Tian completely confused.

Melleny rolled her eyes in a way that said she thought they were stupid.

"Shut up" said Jasmine and Tian in unison.

"Just because you're a super genius" said Tian defensively.

"Yeah! Just because we're not…um…not…ah…non super genius people's "said Jasmine in a failed attempt to insult Melleny. Everyone in the room gave a small laugh despite the tense situation.

"Enough girls" said Shannon jokingly.

"Seriously though, WTF?" said Tian.

"Jasmine is of the Uchiha clan" Melleny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, right" Jasmine said in an incredulous tone, but from the look on Shannon's and Melleny's face she could tell that they weren't joking.

I am a part of the great and noble Uchiha clan? Well, I am not sure you could call them a clan any more considering that there are only two brothers left, Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha. Wait a second if I am a part of the Uchiha clan doesn't that mean that my parents were of the Uchiha clan? Shannon had always refused to tell me much about my parents and I always wondered why.

Gasps behind Jasmine pulled her out of her thoughts.

"She is an Uchiha?" said Jiriaya amazed his brow furrowing.

Shannon nodded solemnly,

"Jasmine is my niece."

"Wow" Naruto said shocked out of his mind. He wondered how Sasuke would react knowing that another one of his clan still lived.

"That's not all. I know that Tian and Melleny were sent to our dimension by the same person that we were for some reason and although I don't know why. I know that neither Tian nor Melleny are completely…Normal, so to speak" Shannon explained hesitantly.

"Were we just insulted, or is it just me?" Tian said to Melleny her brow furrowed.

Meanwhile Jiriaya seemed to go into deep thought, his head spinning with questions but he kept silent.

Shannon coughed violently and this time blood spurted out of her mouth and sprayed the bed making a bloody mess. The doctor moved forward and this time Shannon didn't refuse his help proving just how close to death she was. Shannon prided herself on being strong usually to a fault.

The doctor fiddled the IV drip and stayed by her side in case she needed more help and wouldn't have to ask.

Melleny who was standing opposite the doctor watched him with intent eyes. She was known to have a sharp instincts and something about the doctor didn't sit right with her. There was something about him…but what? She couldn't put her finger on it.

"There is something else." Shannon said, turning everyone's attention to her once again.

"This is the part I am not so sure on. I know that Melleny and Tian were born here and that they were sent to our dimension for some reason and that there is a very good chance that whoever sent them there never expected them to return. For what reason I do not know, it can't be good though. Whoever it was probably never expected them to meet Jasmine. "

"How DID you return?" Asked Gaara calmly

"I take it you know about the Sharingan?"

"Yes, it many great abilities"

"Yes, and one of them is the ability to travel to different dimensions. I am pretty sure that he cast a Jutsu that enabled him to set a… timer I guess you could call it, that would send us back here if we were on the brink of death and not by natural causes. When we transported here I think that anything that Jasmine was touching was transported here as well" Shannon said.

"Who is 'he'?" asked Gaara.

Shannon pressed her lips together and wondered whether to answer him or not.

If these people find out about Itachi it would put Jasmine as well as Tian and Melleny in even more danger, especially if one of them is working for Itachi. She knew that Itachi was alive and had joined the Akatsuki after he had destroyed the Uchiha clan, thanks to her special sharingan that could see into different dimensions without her having to physically be there. She had suspected this day would come when they would return here and she prepared the girls as much as she could by creating 'Naruto'. All they needed to know about this world was in the manga they loved so much. The only problem they might come up with is that because time flows differently in the 'Naruto world' and earth is about a year or two ahead of them and if they reveal any of the information into what's going to happen in the future it will cause the future to change and that could lead to disaster. They probably haven't noticed because of all that has been happening but I hope that they will have the presents of mind not to say anything. How do I know for sure though? Ah! I know, I will simply tell them.

With the last of her strength she cast a Jutsu so that she could connect with Jasmine, Tian and Melleny's minds' so that they could hear her voice.

Girls don't freak out it's me, I am talking telepathically, I don't want the others in the room to notice that I am talking to you. I need to tell you something important and fast so I will just state the facts

Their eyes widened and Jasmine gave a little jump but no one seemed to notice.

When we were sent here because of the time difference in our world we have ended up about 6 months in the past, do not tell anyone of this and in no circumstance will you reveal that you know future to anyone. If you do it will have unknown effects and things may turn out differently and if it gets out that you know the future there will be people that would kill to get their hands on that kind of information, putting you in even more danger than you already are.

Shannon felt there acceptance and sighed in that's one problem down. She hoped. Then she turned her attention back to Gaara,

"I can't say" Shannon said stiffly and looked away.

Gaara was about to press her for more information, but Jiriaya quickly shook his head recognising the determined look in the woman's' eyes. She wouldn't tell them anything no matter what they said.

"What evidence do you have to support your theory about the 'timer'" asked Jiriaya, changing the subject.

"If the 'timer' was set just to transport Jasmine she would have arrived here buck naked" said Melleny as if it was completely obvious.

"Oh" Jiriaya was taken aback for a moment, not expecting such a blunt answer.

Everyone's head turned to stare at Jasmine.

"Hey!" exclaimed Jasmine, quickly crossing her arms protectively over her chest.

Tian, Melleny and Shannon laughed and Jasmine glared at them.

"Getting back on track" said Shannon with a pain filled smile. Her face was as pale as a sheet and she could barely talk, when she did speak her voice was husky and low.

"Melleny, Tian, Jasmine, I am sorry I have to leave you with this mess to deal with. I truly am." She coughed again; her voice was getting softer and softer.

"I want you all to be very careful, all of you! I can't guaranty that you will be safe here."

"Then how do we get back?" asked Jasmine

"Only a powerful sharingan can send you back." Shannon said with a sigh.

"That's just awesome" said Melleny sarcastically,

"There are only two Uchiha's left that can use the sharingan and they are both big evil bad assess, not cool!"

"Sasuke isn't evil!" said Naruto defending his friend that he had known since birth,

"He is just a little…confused at the moment"

Melleny rolled her eyes. She had liked Sasuke in beginning of the anime series when he was a good guy and when he turned his back on the village and joined an evil sorcerer called Orochimaru to gain more power so that he could kill his older brother in revenge for destroying their clan, she had been furious. Orochimaru had tried to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village, HIS own village and he just goes off with him to become his student. Is he stupid or something?! She knew avenging his clan meant a lot to him and she could understand that. She would want revenge too if the same thing happened to her. But, to devote your entire life on revenge is….sick. When she had been watching it on her computer screen she had felt like hitting him over the head and telling him to grow up, shit happens, deal with it. At the time Tian and Jasmine had laughed at her for getting so worked up about a TV show. They're ones to talk! If she remembered correctly were they not the ones who bloody cried their eyes out when Gaara was taken by the Akatsuki and killed. Then when a healer brought him back to life they jumped around screaming in happiness! And they tell me not to get worked up! Sheesh! Wait a second… it all actually happened .That means that Sasuke really did abandon his village and did all that horrible stuff. AAAHHH! That stupid idiot! You can bet that if I ever get to meet Sasuke I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! All these thoughts went through Melleny's in a about 0.1 of a second. A person with a normal level of intelligence would have taken about 5 seconds proving just how quick Melleny's thought patterns were. Because her brain is able to sought through information extremely quick Melleny has time to notice and process things most people don't.

"It's true! Who are you to judge Sasuke?" Naruto said getting angry at the new comer.

"Children, children" Jiriaya said in a calming tone but obviously mocking voice.

Naruto gave him a peeved stare but chose not comment.

Shannon smiled warily then looked behind Tian and Jasmine

"Jiriaya, Gaara, and you too Naruto; I would like to ask a favour of you before I …I…I…you know" Her voice was now so low it was nearly impossible to hear.

With those words Jasmines' eyes filled up with tear to track down her face. It was a rarity for Jasmine to cry in public and Shannon didn't even think she was aware that she was crying, expressing just how upset she was and how much she truly loved Shannon. She slowly walked the two steps to the bed and took one of Shannons' cold hands in hers then bent down at the waist to gently rest her head on Shannon stomach like when she had done when she was a child and started to sob uncontrollably as if she was being crushed by her sadness at losing the only blood family she had ever know.

Shannon lifted a shaking hand to rest it on her head and continued with tears of pain and sadness written all over her face as she continued,

"To get home you need the sharingan, I have told you this already. It is very likely that Jasmine also possess the sharingan it just hasn't been awakened yet. I am not sure that hers will be powerful enough though and it will probably take years to develop and she will need a trainer that has the sharingan if she is ever going to get to the level of skill that is needed to travel the dimensions. If she can't…you will all have to stay here forever."

"Kakashi can train her" suggested Naruto; naming his other trainer back in his village that has one eye that is capable of the sharingan. He acquired the sharingan when he was a boy from his dying friend that was a part of the Uchiha clan, by replacing one of his eyes with his. He was an excellent trainer and taught Sasuke how to use his sharingan as well.

"The only problem is if they stay here forever it will cause unknown consequences."

"So, we're going to be stuck here for YEARS or ever FOREVER!" exclaimed Melleny.

"I am not sure how long it will take it for her to learn, progress differs from each individual person. In the mean while it is extremely important that all of you learn how to defend yourselves in this world. That means learning how to use your chakra (spiritual energy that can be released in certain ways to perform a jutsu) and build up your physical strength and skill level because I know that there will be dangerous people after all three of you, especially the Akatsuki. I don't know why, so please be careful!"

Shannon looked at Gaara, Jiriaya and then finally at Naruto.

"The favour I ask of you is this: will you take care of and help in any way you can to help the girls to reach their goal, even if that means training them yourselves? I know this is a massive favour to ask and I know this mission may be dangerous-"

"You don't have to worry about a thing, we will take care of them, right guys?" said Naruto confidently.

"Of course" Gaara said kindly.

Jiriaya nodded his head solemnly in agreement.

"I swear they will be safe under my protection"

She nodded her head and for the first time since she had entered the room she seemed to relax. The stark relief on her face was evident. She and gave small shaky smile, her lips covered in blood. Sweat covered her body and she looked fragile and feeble.

"I'm going to risk being overly dramatic and say that knowing that, I can finally rest in peace."

She looked first at Jasmine, then Tian and Melleny.

"Take care girls I mean it, and please be careful, cause if you don't I'll come back and haunt your asses…"

With a faint endearing smile her voice trailed off into nothing and the machine monitoring her heart beeped a continues high pitched sound that signalled her heart had stopped and just like that she was gone. Jasmine, Tian and Melleny all felt as though a little bit of their souls went with her. Grief weighed on the girls like an icy wet and heavy blanket pushing them down into the depths of sorrow and anguish.


End file.
